ACB Joins all of its U.S. partner organizations in celebrating the final diplomatic step for the ratification of the Marrakesh Treaty with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva, Switzerland on February 8, 2019. ACB President Kim Charlson is a member of the Board of Directors of the Accessible Books Consortium, the WIPO entity working on implementation of the Marrakesh Treaty with the fifty member countries.

A new international survey reveals that audio description (AD) is an important assistive technology worldwide providing access to people who are blind or have low vision to the arts and many other visually-rich events.

The new international AD survey (69 countries and the Pacific Disability Forum) finds that:

Step Into the Leadership Spotlight
by Kenneth Semien, Sr.

We are pleased to announce the hiring of Clark Rachfal to be ACB’s Director of Advocacy and Governmental Affairs.

March to the Beat of a Different Drum
By Kenneth Semien, Sr.

On October 9, 2018 the President of the United States signed the Marrakesh Implementation Act. Late yesterday, January 28th, we received the news that the President had signed the instrument of ratification and it is being sent to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) very soon.

“Dots and Dashes” is a short newsletter featuring a variety of topics and ACB stories. This issue features information about ACB’s leadership meetings, the membership focus call, information about ACB’s scholarships, some information about RSVA’s Sagebrush Conference, and much more.

ACB Leadership Meetings

The American Council of the Blind annual president’s meeting and legislative seminar will take place from Saturday, February 23, 2019 to Tuesday, February 26, 2019 in Alexandria, Va. 

For Immediate Release

Contact: Joel Snyder
Director, Audio Description Project
jsnyder@acb.org - (202) 467-5083

American Council of the Blind’s Audio Description Project

Announces the 2019 “BADIE”* Awards

* Benefits of Audio Description in Education

We are excited to welcome ACB members to the Legislative Seminar in February. There are several issues that blind and visually impaired Americans continue to experience in 2019. Attendees will have the opportunity to discuss these issues with their representatives and senators. To make an appointment with your representative, call the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121. Interestingly, all of the major issues flagged this year touch in some way the continuing growth of technology in our society.

The American Council of the Blind (ACB) is proud to announce a special promotion with our partner Aira – starting today, May 21, 2019. Take advantage of this limited-time offer while you can! 

If you haven’t heard of Aira before, Aira connects people who are blind or have low vision to highly-trained, professional agents. This link will take you to their website: www.aira.io.